CHAPTER 288: A VERY LONG DREAM

Seeing his reaction, Ella glanced at the soft toy in her hand and flipped it around to examine it. Was there something wrong about it?

"Who is he?" Adrian asked suddenly.

Ella’s mind blanked out for a split second. And then, it dawned on her. Did he think that this chibi was inspired by some other man? And hence, Her Highness the Princess has taken grave offense?!

Before she could reflect upon that, Adrian yanked the soft toy out of her grip.

"Wait!" Ella immediately jumped forward to shield it.

Adrian squinted.

Ella was speechless, "Baby, it’s just a toy, how can you be..." so petty...?

"And... and... it’s you!" Ella grumbled, pulling the toy out of his grip, "I customized it based on you."

When he heard that, Adrian’s expression relaxed slightly. He eyed the soft toy before stretching his hand out.

Seeing that he posed no threat to ’mini Adrian’ now, Ella passed the soft toy to him.

Adrian glanced at with narrowed eyes, twirling it around as if the thought of being identical was incomprehensible to him.

Then, he swiftly pushed ’chibi Adrian’ to the side and looked at her, "I am better."

Ella: "_" Are you jealous of a toy now?!

Hence, the entire ’gifting’ part turned out to be more comical than hearttouching. However, the stiff air from before cleared a bit.

"Adrian..."

Ella sat on the single couch, her fingers gripping the fabric of her black leggings.

Adrian shifted his gaze from the chibi and met her gaze.

Ella lowered her head, "I have something to say... Something I have kept from you for a long time now..."

One couldn’t tell what Adrian thought of but something stirred in his eyes when he heard those words.

Ella waited patiently, awaiting a response before the man shifted on the long couch, "Tell me."

At an angle Ella couldn’t see, his fingers curled slightly.

"I... Do you believe in past lives?" Those words came out in a whisper.

And the moment they landed, Adrian’s fist loosened, a hint of bewilderment flickered in his eyes as if he was expecting her to say something else.

"Past lives?" He repeated, his voice calm yet questioning.

Ella bit her bottom lips. Maybe he would find it all ridiculous... Maybe he would find her crazy.

When she was reborn, this was the last thing on her mind. She had never wanted to tell anyone about this.

But she had also never expected her to have feelings for a man, for the same man she hated in her previous life.

She never expected she would want to build a genuine relationship with him. Nor did she think she would care for him so much.

But today, when there was almost no distance between them, Ella had that feeling. A prickling sense of guilt.

She had manipulated, lied and harmed everybody who came her away and that would never change.

But with the people she cherished, Ella wanted to be just ’Ella’.

Someone they can rely on and feel safe with. Someone who did not deceive them or play with their emotions.

The thought of it filled her with a sense of courage.

And Ella inhaled a deep breath, "Think of it like... I had a long long dream months ago..."

"In my dream also, we were married..." Ella shook her head, "And I hated you."

When she spoke of that, she looked at his face.

But there was not much of a change in his expressions.

"What about me?" Adrian suddenly asked.

Ella blinked, "What? What about you?"

"How did I treat you?"

Ella fell into reverie... The Adrian in her previous life...

"I thought you kept me by your side for revenge because you never looked at me. You refused to let me go. But no matter what I did, you did not harm me either."

"I... I..." Ella bit her bottom lips. She had thought it would be easy.

But now that she was trying to speak, the words did not make it out of her mouth at all.

I lied to you, I deceived you, I tried to kill you, I hurt your grandparents’ feelings, they passed away, I...

"What happened then?" Adrian’s voice broke Ella’s trance.

She looked at him.

"How did your dream end?"

"It probably ended with me being punished for all the wrongs I did..." Ella smiled bitterly.

Maybe she was the victim too but she had done countless injustices to others as well.

The people who treated her were all shattered by her naivety and wrong decisions.

"I died, Adrian," Ella’s voice trembled, as tears welled up in her eyes.

The memory of that small room, months of torture, that lone knife, those scars on her thighs...

"Maybe I deserved to die but I hate... I really hate how I died..."

Ella had not even finished her words when a shadow hovered over her.

When she looked up, she found Adrian standing in front of her.

And suddenly, the man dropped to his knees.

Adrian King, who did not lower his head in front of anyone, knelt in front of her.

As he looked up, into her eyes, the frost in his eyes gradually melted, "It’s just a dream."

Ella froze for a moment before she started to shake her, "No, it’s..." She had just called it a dream so she could find the courage to talk about it.

At some point, she even wanted to dismiss it as a dream. But had it been a dream, things would not turn out exactly how they had before.

Yet, Adrian did not give her the chance to speak.

He grabbed her and placed it on his chest, "It’s a dream."

Ella’s lips parted.

"No one will harm you, as long as I am alive."

Ella’s heart skipped a beat.

"I will protect you forever, Elle."

Adrian had been quietly listening to her, never once interrupting.

And for a while, it seemed to Ella like he might even believe her words. He might believe that she remembered how everything unfolded in their previous life.

Yet, the moment Ella mentioned her death, everything changed for Adrian.

The possibility of such a reality where there was no Ella was impossible for him.

Ella’s hand that was pressed against the man’s chest, trembled slightly. She could almost feel his heart beating, way too fast, too unsteady for the man that he was.

One moment, she was still on the couch, glancing at the man kneeling on the floor.

And in the next second, she threw herself into his arms.

Adrian immediately stabilized them both but the movement sent them both to the floor.

He laid on the carpet while holding atop him.

"I don’t just need your protection, Adrian..." Ella’s eyes narrowed as she leaned in towards him.

Adrian met her gaze, his lips parted slightly, "What else?"

Ella pursed her lips when she met his challenging gaze.

Earlier, she had stopped him. And this time, he was not going to initiate anything.

"I just wanted to let you know that my intentions towards you might not have been pure since the beginning..." Ella cupped his face.

"At first, I just wanted to coax you, to get my freedom and do as I wanted because of my dream."

"What about now?" As he spoke, he tucked her hair behind her ear.

His fingers grazed the sensitive zone on her neck and Ella trembled...

"Now... things have changed..." Her voice came out raspy.

Adrian’s movements paused, "How?"

Ella’s eyes lowered.

For a moment, she did not move.

They laid there on the carpet, at a little distance from the fireplace, right on top of each other.

The moment seemed to have stilled. The only sound one could hear was of the raindrops crashing against the glasspanes, the intermingled breathing of two people lying on the floor.

Then, Ella raised her head.

She grabbed Adrian’s face in her palm, "I want you..." she whispered against his lips, enunciating each word.

"I want you, Adrian..." she repeated as if it was more of a silent admission to herself as well.

And the more she said it, the lighter Ella seemed to feel.

It felt like everything she had been holding back, refusing to accept before had come to light now.

And her heart... seemed to fly...

Cupping his face, Ella leaned even closer to the man.

She looked into his dark eyes, resembling the dark skies on a stormy night.

And a smile curved on her lips, "I want no one but you—"